Wednesday, April 04, 2007

National Grid sells wireless business for £2.5bn

National Grid Wireless is a major provider of infrastructure to mobile operators in the UK, with almost 14,500 sites. Its infrastructure is used by the BBC, Vodafone, T-Mobile, 3, O2, Orange, BSkyB, Channel 4, ITV and Emap. It is to sell its UK Wireless business to Arqiva, a subsidiary of Australia’s Macquarie Bank, for £2.5bn. Arqiva - formerly known as NTL Broadcast – is the BBC’s preferred supplier for distribution and transmission. The deal is expected to require approval by the Competition Commission, because Arqiva and National Grid each own around half the transmission masts used by UK TV and radio stations.